Interview with Valerio diCaprio

Please Introduce yourself and your role

My name is Valerio diCaprio, and I am the Chief M&A and Sustainability Officer at Centrient Pharmaceuticals. 

In this role, I focus on: defining the Corporate strategy and ensuring its effective and efficient implementation, leading our M&A efforts to further grow Centrient inorganically, leading our Sustainability agenda - a very important part of Centrient’s being – and, finally, supporting our company in its journey to transform itself.

Can you also tell us a little bit about your career journey so far?

My background is in Engineering: I did my master’s in Engineering from the Politecnico di Milano, from which I graduated in 2008. I then joined Bain & Co., in their Milan office, in 2009; a thrilling and very enriching experience: being based in multiple offices across continents and supporting some of the most prominent companies in the world across multiple industries. Consulting was a great school for me: there was so much for me to learn and so many amazing challenges to face, that I stayed there for much longer than I anticipated.

Although I was really enjoying my job at Bain & Co., the possibility to work with Centrient was an opportunity to make my contribution to save and improve lives of people across the world and make healthcare more sustainable and accessible to those who need it. From the very first contact, I grasped the impressive growth potential of this company, and truly believed in its growth story, of which I wanted to be part, and I continue to want to be a part of it every day.

I started my career at Centrient in 2016 as the Global Strategy Director, based out of Singapore. In this role my learning curve was steep - also experiencing that not every M&A sales process can be successful. It was a very positive and enriching experience nonetheless, also having the opportunity to work for one year as Marketing Director for the AMEA region based out of Gurgaon, India.

With the acquisition of Centrient by Bain Capital, I got promoted to Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer. So again, taking on new responsibilities and opportunities to expand my scope of work.

What excites you most about working with Centrient?

Many things, but the one thing that I really enjoy and can’t do without is the dynamism of the company and of the organization: with many exciting initiatives and programs going on at any single time.

My role is very broad and interesting, with very varied challenges that are relatively complex and different from one another; this gives me lots of learning and growing opportunities. Overall, my role is highly dynamic and never gets boring, and this is what enriches me personally in terms of development and what makes my job so attractive and fun.

One of the beautiful things about Centrient is that it fully empowers people: giving them the opportunity to shine, and to really feel the responsibility to make things happen and succeed. This is a great trait for any enriching role, but of course comes with an unspoken condition - accountability: the need to be able to go the extra mile when necessary and to always feel the need to “repay” the trust given to you.

What makes you most proud to be a Centrient employee?

There are so many things that I feel proud about for being a Centrient employee. I am proud of the fact that we don’t shy away from new initiatives and challenges: projects are seen as a chance for improvement of the employees and the company, and we always stick together as a team and support each other relentlessly. I am also really proud that even though we are a smaller company compared to some of our competitors, we don’t shy away from really trying to pursue what is right for us and for our growth. We do our job in the most sustainable way and in a way that safeguards our future and takes care of the people and environment around us.

Your favourite part about being with Centrient

The Centrient Team. In my four years at Centrient, I have not encountered one occasion when I didn't enjoy working with specific people or teams; I have not met a colleague who was not willing to help or not willing to go the extra mile. This was something which - when moving from consulting to the corporate world - I wasn't expecting.  But I was very happy to see this at Centrient!

Describe your personal brand of leadership in a few words

Being a leader often means juggling with multiple priorities, people, situations and challenges: all of which sometimes require different styles and approaches. However, there are three strongholds that I will never move away from:

Strong Teamwork: I always believe that the power of people working together collaboratively is much greater than the sum of the individuals working alone;

Empowerment: I value the ability to delegate to people in a way that enables them to make decisions, draw their own conclusions and bring their ideas for collaboration. The strongest outcomes always come from strong alignment early on, and then full empowerment of the individuals;

Constant Challenge of preconceived ideas or constraints: think outside the boundaries of the traditional and defined ways of working. The present ways of working may suit the needs of the current times but if they aren’t challenged time and again, they risk becoming obsolete and irrelevant. Hence it is important to keep asking the Why’s and How’s, all the time.

Advice that you want to give to millennials like yourself who aspire to have a similar kind of career path as yours

The most important is really understanding what you like and what you don't like about specific jobs, roles and projects. Have a clear understanding of your strengths and weaknesses so that you can work on both: constantly leverage your strengths and work on your weaknesses especially when they are being tested.

Really enjoy what you do. Don't do it because you must get to the evening, or you must get to the weekend or simply because you were asked to. But do it because you really want change and progress to happen: that analysis has to be really insightful, that project has to be successful and so on. You should fundamentally have a passion for what you do. You don’t just push yourself to take that extra step, but you also push yourself to create success.

I learned early in my career that, to be successful, it is never sufficient to just be smart or to just put in your best efforts; it is always both: really putting in the hours and the efforts, and doing it in a very smart and thoughtful way.